Peabody-award winning journalist Doug Levy covered medicine for USA TODAY and other major media for more than 10 years. On this blog, he posts observations, commentary and quirks on the road or from his home base in San Francisco. For more about Doug, visit douglevy.com. For Doug's commentary about food and wine, visit wineandfoodworld.com.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Sure, you’d think the chief executive officer of a company struggling to emerge from bankruptcy and desperate to salvage an $8 billion buyout-gone-bad would have better things to do than pester his underlings with crazy proclamations. But in the case of Tribune Co. CEO Randy Michaels, you’d be wrong.

Randy Michaels (photo from Los Angeles Times)

The man at the top of the troubled media empire took time out of his real job this week to issue a list of words and phrases — 119 of them, to be exact — that must never, ever be uttered by anchors or reporters on WGN-AM (720), the news/talk radio station located five floors below his office in Tribune Tower.

Believe me, I’m not making this up.

WGN news director Charlie Meyerson, good soldier that he is, passed on what he identified as Michaels’ “list of forbidden ‘newsspeak’ words and phrases” in a memo to his staff Monday, with the explicit warning: “Don’t say them on WGN.”

Meyerson, a veteran Chicago newsman, has long championed the idea of delivering the news in a down-to-earth, conversational manner. That’s all well and good. As Meyerson explained in his memo:

“The real goal here is to avoid using words that make you sound like you’re reading, instead of talking — that shatter the image you’re speaking knowledgeably to one person. By not using ‘newsspeak,’ you enhance your reputation as a communicator.”

But Meyerson takes it a step further, directing his staff to keep tabs on each other’s compliance: They’re to report any on-air infractions by their co-workers, making sure to note the precise time and date on “bingo cards” he provided that contain a random assortment of Michaels’ forbidden words. If you ask me, that’s just plain creepy.

What’s even more disturbing is that the CEO of a major institution would engage in such petty and insulting micromanaging of subordinates. Here, without further ado, is Randy Michaels’ complete list of unacceptable expressions on the Tribune Co.’s flagship radio station:

“Flee” meaning “run away”

“Good” or “bad” news

“Laud” meaning “praise”

“Seek” meaning “look for”

“Some” meaning “about”

“Two to one margin” . . . “Two to one” is a ratio, not a margin. A margin is measured in points. It’s not a ratio.

“Yesterday” in a lead sentence

“Youth” meaning “child”

5 a.m. in the morning

After the break

After these commercial messages

Aftermath

All of you

Allegations

Alleged

Area residents

As expected

At risk

At this point in time

Authorities

Auto accident

Bare naked

Behind bars

Behind closed doors

Behind the podium (you mean lecturn) [sic]

Best kept secret

Campaign trail

Clash with police

Close proximity

Complete surprise

Completely destroyed, completely abolished, completely finished or any other completely redundant use

Death toll

Definitely possible

Diva

Down in (location)

Down there

Dubbaya when you mean double you

Everybody (when referring to the audience)

Eye Rack or Eye Ran

False pretenses

Famed

Fatal death

Fled on foot

Folks

Giving 110%

Going forward

Gunman, especially lone gunman

Guys

Hunnert when you mean hundred

Icon

In a surprise move

In harm’s way

In other news

In the wake of (unless it’s a boating story)

Incarcerated

Informed sources say . . .

Killing spree

Legendary

Lend a helping hand

Literally

Lucky to be alive

Manhunt

Marred

Medical hospital

Mother of all (anything)

Motorist

Mute point. (It’s moot point, but don’t say that either)

Near miss

No brainer

Officials

Our top story tonight

Out in (location)

Out there

Over in

Pedestrian

Perfect storm

Perished

Perpetrator

Plagued

Really

Reeling

Reportedly

Seek

Senseless murder

Shots rang out

Shower activity

Sketchy details

Some (meaning about)

Some of you

Sources say . . .

Speaking out

Stay tuned

The fact of the matter

Those of you

Thus

Time for a break

To be fair

Torrential rain

Touch base

Under fire

Under siege

Underwent surgery

Undisclosed

Undocumented alien

Unrest

Untimely death

Up in (location)

Up there

Utilize (you mean use)

Vehicle

We’ll be right back

Welcome back

Welcome back everybody

We’ll be back

Went terribly wrong

We’re back

White stuff

World class

You folks

Related Posts:

About The Author

Robert Feder

has been keeping tabs on the media in Chicago for 30 years. A lifelong Chicagoan and graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, he was television and radio columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. At age 14, he founded the first and only Walter Cronkite Fan Club.

Who the hell would want to work for this idiot or WGN? But in this economy the bosses have employees over a barrel. Encouraging snitching on co-workers creates a hostile work environment. Kinda reminds me of the office scenes in Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil”. The news people use “newsspeak” because they’re in the news biz! Imagine trying to deliver the days events and worry about being reprimanded for slipping up on every word. Maybe Michaels will have a “newsspeak swear jar”. So stupid. Where’s the list of words for fat, brain-dead CEOs to avoid?? It would be awesome if the staff got fed up and just rose from their desks and walked out in protest. BTW… Randy Michaels photo caption: “I wanna pizza THIS big!”

Shower activity is diarrhea of the mouth & can be replaced by the far more sensible & shorter “showers”. Undocumented alien is just PC speech for illegal alien. Senseless murder implies that there are sensible murders. Auto accidents are really crashes or wrecks.

And the pronunciation guide ones make sense, but then why would you hire someone to be a on air newscaster if they say hunnert or eye-rak?

But I fail to see the dislike for flee or pedestrian. Does he want them to say “ran away”? Or call the people in a crosswalk, “walkers”? Or was he referring to pedestrian as an adjective?

What’s the issue here? Every media organisation has lists of banned words. At The Australian nobody’s allowed to use “controversial”, for instance. Why? Because its a cliche. And most of the above are also cliches.

How bizarre is this management team? Can you imagine what Brandmeier would have done with this memo? It’s no wonder he didn’t sign with WGN. Forget the fact that the money they offered him was a joke! What about these ridiculous directives?

This almost smacks of the initial volley in an ultimate effort to totally eliminate all local news coverage on AM720 and just pull a network news feed at the top and bottom of the hour. I know it`s hard to conceive of the flagship broadcast property of the Chicago Tribune without any local news, but this new edict will certainly make WGN-AM reporters and anchors the laughing stock of Chicago radio. I know WGN`s numbers are very poor in the highly sought-after money demographic (25-54, male & female), but banning whole phrases of the English language are NOT going to change that.

As Emperor of RacketMag.com, I find it my mission to balance out Mr. Michaels’ insanity by ensuring my writers utilize these phrases as much as possible to make it seem like we know what we’re talking about. The fact of the matter is that this is definitely possible down in SoCal. We’ll be back. -The Emperor!

It seems they are memo crazy at the Tribune. WGN radio personalities were told not to exchange pleasant greetings with callers – who are their bread and butter. They are censoring some very common everyday expressions and asking collegues to turn each other in over trivial nonsense. Are we bringing back journalism McCarthyism ?

You might be missing the trees for the forest here. Michels’ involvement aside, the list is excellent. It spotlights the worst cliches that radio news has offered up for years in lieu of good writing. I will be copying it and referring to it often in my radio job. My only addition would be ‘parent’s worst nightmare.’ I’ve always wondered what a parent’s best nightmare might be.

Wow, Micheals. Seriously? Maybe your free time would be better spent at the gym working off that fat gut instead of in front of a computer slowly pecking with two fingers, a list of words you don’t want the news staff to use.

Impossible to monitor and enforce. No self respecting in-house snitch could write fast enough to catch all of those constructions as they’re used each hour of the broadcast day. A few on his list do need to go away (“senseless murder” When does a murder ever make sense?). But “alleged” needs to stay for obvious reasons. I understand what the guy is trying to do. He wants better use of language. Not so much reliance on battered cliches. Unfortunately, he’s making his argument about 25 years too late. We’ve all gotten lazy in the way we write and speak. That’s a cultural shift. His list of words won’t change any of the people he’s targeting. He’s being a fussy old jerk. He should shrug and walk back into his office and close the door.

Why does the World’s Greatest Newspaper keep this piece of crap? Water seeks it own level, just look at his new hires. What a shame to see such a great station fall into the toilet. Parent company needs to flush them all away……

WGN has become the Goldblatt’s of Chicago radio. Soon they will suffer the same fate as the once proud, yet incredibly low end, department store. The list of people rolling over in their graves is far too long to post.

Frankly, Michaels is dead-on and I laud Charlie Meyerson (oops!) for trying to do a good job. The broadcast news outlets in this town are embarrassingly sloppy and ill-informed. Most on-air personalities are regarded as ignoramuses who probably could not hold a job were it not for their looks and ability to read a script on air. Even the latter is apparently not that big of a job requirement. Hats off to Charlie Meyerson, one of the few outstanding broadcast journalists left in this great city.

I agree completely with the list. And while we’re at it can we demand that all TV reporters stop doing the “vagina pose” with their hands? Putting your hands together at the finger tips does not make you look sincere – it makes you look like a douche-bag!

>>But Meyerson takes it a step further, directing his staff to keep tabs on each other’s compliance: They’re to report any on-air infractions by their co-workers, making sure to note the precise time and date on “bingo cards” he provided that contain a random assortment of Michaels’ forbidden words. If you ask me, that’s just plain creepy.<<

To be honest, I would be looking for another gig if I did news at WGN. What is he (Myerson) trying to do? Make everone on his newsteam have to look over thier shoulders? These people are professionals and don't need that.

Living in Cincinnati I know how ole Benjamin Humel (Randy’s real name) trashed a local 50,000 stations named 700 WLW. Pure junk when he finished with it. Also, when at WFLA in Tampa, he once thumb tacked a female on-air personalities panties to the bulletin board. Nice guy? No way. WGN will be junk when he is finished carving!

The untimely death I can understand. I have never heard of a timely death. Some of the things the pig is asking for is dumb.Such as”white stuff”. I have lived hear all my life and I’ve heard people use that all my life. Maybe he can get Murru Slaughter to write the news and he would use “raging inferno” instead of fire.

This must be a joke. Or just another preposterous example of poor management. Whatever merit exists with regard to the list itself is obscured by the way the message is being presented to staff. Here’s a question….if this is so important to him, why doesn’t he just watch the shows and police the situation himself instead of having the employees tell on each other??

Let’s hope that Randy is also working on a “do not use list” for Greg Jarrett that includes every word that could be pronounced with a Spanish accent! He is so annoying when he breaks into his “I am fluent in spanish” speak!

If WGN reporters were already giving 110 percent, they wouldn’t be putting themselves at risk here, would they? The bad news…they can’t seek other employment…because, fact of the matter is, there are no radio news jobs left in this market. It’s really too bad. They’re plagued by lard-enhanced micromanagers (not a complete surprise). Going forward, you watch. We only have the sketchy details. The whole staff is in harms way. It’s a no brainer. Allegedly and reportedly the place is run by the mother of all doofuses and it’s definitely possible major changes will come in close proximity to publication of this senseless list.

He missed one. Most of these had me chuckling, but the one that REALLY needs to be enforced at every tv/radio in town is the use of the term “all but” — NONE of them use it correctly. Following ‘all but’ should be the one thing that did NOT happen, but instead they follow it w/what did happen. For example, reporters would incorrectly say “the WGN CEO all but sent out a riduculous memo” when in fact it should be “the WGN CEO all but wore a shirt that read ‘kick me, I’m an idiot’” Oh well, enough of my muttering – I’m off to look up the definitions of podium and lectern.

After nine years in newspapers, I don’t entirely disagree with some of the suggestions on this list — some of these are Associated Press style, a media bible of sorts. What I do agree with is how ridiculous it is that the CEO is focused on this stuff instead of figuring out how to keep the company alive. If the STMG higher-ups had been doing this during our bankruptcy last year, I probably would have “completely destroyed” something “in the wake of” their stupidity.

Robert, I am surprised that a writer as good as you would take issue with a media executive demanding good use of the mother tongue. Now, if somebody can get broadcasters to stop splitting infinitives, ending sentences with prepositions and using “who” as an object we might be getting someplace.

I notice Michaels left off my pet peeve: “Span” meaning “bridge.” Who the says “span?”

The vehemence with which so many of your other readers denounced Michaels and his list shows high school English teachers have not been doing their jobs for at least the past two generations.

Agree with this action or disagree, Michaels’ lists is generous compared to some of the stylistic dictates Colonel McCormick used to impose on print writers in the same building.

I will agree this is something the news director should have done, not an executive at Michaels’ level.

I had a boss like this in advertising. On the one hand, it’s nice to see management show some reflection of the actual craft of the business, and challenging people to abandon their crutch cliches is good. On the other hand, if all it does is remind you of the 58 problems that management isn’t making better, it’s maybe the right answer at the wrong time.

Almost makes me want to tune in again just to hear those poor sob’s try to do their jobs with this jerks sword hanging over their heads… I resent that they had to ruin my radio station….stopped listening months ago and will now only listen on cub days. Hope the cubs leave for another outlet soon!

This isn’t odd or unusual in radio. Program Directors I worked for in the Chicago area and beyond have all been complete buzzkills. And people wonder where the “new talent” is? Radio doesn’t embrace talent, it kills it.

They forgot a forbidden phrase on the list..”This is Greg Jarrett”. The reason he has someone else monitoring the radio for infractions is because Randy Michaels won’t listen to his own station. Someone writes, look at his new hires. Don’t have to go that far, look at the new fires. When you let go the high caliber people he’s told to hit the road, that speaks volumes. If I had to follow that list, I’d be let go the first newscast. They’re going to sound like robots. It keeps getting worse.

WGN has got to come alive – do watch the Noon news everday in my office – In my opinion, great reporters, but who is responsible for their syle of dress?? – Allison Payne is a beautiful woman who consistently wears fabric that I would have on my couch, or a carpet – Robert Jordan has no idea how to look classy, and Julian and Muriel speak in such a monotone, that it is time to snooze – Steve Sanders at least relates, as does Skilling.

WGN should represent Chicago – not Des Moines. A decent newscast, but if the reporter’s attire doesn’t represent this great city, what’s the point?

It’s not just that the list is asinine. It’s not just that tattle-telling is perverse. It’s that this numb-nut offers no SOLUTIONS. Any management leader knows that you don’t just present the problem, you offer a SOLUTION. This is nothing but harassment to get the staff to quit, so they can hire people at $11 an hour. I’d like to see someone follow Michaels around for a week, and do some cliche-counting. Perhaps there’s a memo or two that discusses “growing” the business, etc.

Yes, some is this basic announcer school stuff, but shouldn’t it be coming from the program Director or news Director instead of top management. I had a station owner who wrote us up for letting the dreaded “Dubba-you” slip out; even though politically, he’d've thought “Dubya” was the name of a great leader. He also insisted on pronouncing “coo-pon” instead out “Q-pon.”

But in my lexicon, “white stuff” is vital! It’s the mysterious fifth food group of the working broadcaster, right after Sugars, Salts, Greases and Caffeines. White Stuff is ususally found in the filling of Oreos and Twinkies, in marshmallows, and in instant mashed potatoes. Oh, wait… it means “snow?” Never mind.

I guess there isnt much else going on WGN these days. No wonder this station (and others) are in such a state of dis-repair. I’m sure Wally or Uncle Bobby would drive Randy nuts for showing some personality on the air.

Perhaps WGN is trying to gain some “traction” in an effort to change their “corporate culture”. Hey, I’ve “been there, done that” and I’m sure Michael’s is simply trying to take a “Pro-active” approach to improving WGN’s “Core Competencies”. “Thinking outside the box” is obviously part of his “Skill Sets” and the reason he is the “top dog”. He may appear to be “Playing hardball”, but he is actually a “Square peg in a round hole”. WGN should be planning his “Exit Strategy”.

The fact of the matter is that some of these entries are completely sensible, and the best-kept secret is that some of the carpers in this comment thread would agree with at least a few of them. To be fair, we’re reeling from the death toll that divas such as Randy Michaels have inflicted upon journalism, and that’s having a bare naked impact on the judgment of all of you world class folks out there.

Know what? As a former tv new director, I am in sympathy with the CEO’s directive. Insulting? Yes. Micromanaging? Oh yeah But if you heard this kind of hackneyed swill day after day from people who should know something about good writing, but are just plain lazy, you might be driven to desperate measures yourself. At least he didn’t fire the news director who evidently lets this kind of lousy, cliched writing foul the airwaves.

@emacee1701: “Robert, I am surprised that a writer as good as you would take issue with a media executive demanding good use of the mother tongue. Now, if somebody can get broadcasters to stop splitting infinitives, ending sentences with prepositions and using ‘who’ as an object we might be getting someplace.” . I really hope this is brilliant satire.

It’s a style guide. Don’t tell me the New York Times doesn’t have a list of words writers are supposed to avoid and copy-editors are supposed to remove. In fact, a good chunk of these are just simple grammar issues.

BTW, a person isn’t an “alleged bank robber”, they’re an “accused bank robber”. Facts are alleged, people are accused. You can’t ban the word completely, but it’s used wrongly more often than not. You’re more likely to have an “accused bank robber” than an “alleged bank robbery” and in the latter case, you can have an “apparent bank robbery” or an “unconfirmed bank robbery”.

(Sorry)…that is just trying to justify a salary and position. Radio is known for some of the stupidest ways to communicate. The more mgmt tells air staff what to say and how to say it, the quicker I guess the real question is: Is WGN a better radio station now or before Michaels arrived? I’ve been listening to WGN for 50 years and it is at best, not interesting.

This really isn’t that bad. Yes, it’s micromanagement. But, with regard to many of those banned phrases, he’s absolutely right. In essence, he’s just reminding anchors to avoid cliches and constipated wording, which is fine. Print reporters get hammered with e-mails like that all the time. Many reporters, in fact, are sticklers for that kind of stuff by themselves. The fact that he’s banning those phrases and words — for the most part; some are dumb — is not the problem. It’s the insane accountability measures on which he insists. That’s a lot of needless work, and it should be up to the station chiefs to keep note of that, not the Tribune administration.

I don’t like micro-managers but this reads as more of a ’style guide’ for news copy which, as owner, he’s entitled to issue. The bingo cards and informants are another matter. I agree with almost everyone of these. News writing can be incredibly cliched.

I don’t know wbout this; it doesn’t sound too extreme. Many people have commented above in defense of the elimination of cliches, and I think they’re right.

The memo seems a little heavy-handed coming from the CEO, but it sounds like Charlie, and the rest of the great personalities in that news room, will find a productive way to address the (legitimate) core concern.

Come on, a bingo card? Could you imagine Steve Bertrand yelling out “Bingo!” right after Jim Gudas reports sketchy details on a fleeing perpetrator?

All of us are fans of good news writing. Michaels’ methods should probably be questioned, but I applaud Charlie Meyerson for playing ball against ugly management and a tough economy, and the entire news room for being real professionals.

I do not understand the objection you are making. News organizations have used style books for many years to ensure that news writers (and news readers)adhere to standard forms of usage that represent either proper grammar, locally accepted conventions or a combination of the two. Such practices were thought to enhance both the gravitas and credibility of news reports.

Hey Randy and Charlie. Did Legal vet this list? I always thought it was the lawyers who preferred using “alleged” and “reportedly” to help avoid having to use terms like “slander lawsuit” and “millions of dollars in damages.” Silly me. I would also think that a news manager with real proficiency in the language would suggest replacements for the words he orders his people not to use. For example, “coaching” and “encouraging” are always better than “demanding” and “threatening” when it comes to improving a subordinate’s skills. For that matter, the phrase “encouraging co-workers to comply” or even RFeder’s own, “keep tabs on others compliance” certainly is preferable to the word “snitch” although the latter is far more applicable. Speaking of useful terms, I wonder if the editors of this blog will allow me to use the one I think is most appropriate: “corporate masturbation.”

No comments:

Post a Comment

About Doug Levy

Doug Levy is a veteran journalist, former health reporter for USA Today, former chief communications officer at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, NY, and a non-practicing lawyer (licensed in Maryland.) Levy is a Peabody-award winning investigative reporter, formerly with USA Today, United Press International and National Public Radio, among other media.